Giving dance a chance at SummerWorks
Newly launched stream frees artists from the constraints of fitting a festival format
There may be unintended irony in the emphatically capitalized title of Toronto choreographer Alicia Grant’s latest creation, premiering at SummerWorks on Saturday.
In Grant’s description, LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL 2.0 is about resilience, the capacity to keep going when the odds seem stacked against you, something independent dance artists such as Grant have learned is the key to their professional survival.
Most clichés get to be clichés because they contain a grain of familiar truth, including that of the starving artist. Although few of today’s contemporary dance artists are actually starving, it’s only because they are ingenious time jugglers, often working several jobs to fund their real passion.
“A lot of us are living close to the margin,” says Grant. “We’re torn in so many different directions.”
Money issues remain a nagging frustration for most independent artists of all stripes, but they’re usually smart enough to find ways to solve them.
Says Grant: “We try to help each other, trading time, space, things and services. For us, it’s a sharing economy.”
Interestingly, for emerging choreographers like Grant, getting work seen is a more pressing concern than money. Beyond the competition for funding, it’s a challenge to find a stage. That’s why Grant is grateful that, as SummerWorks marks its 25th anniversary, the festival has launched a specifically curated dance stream like those already in place for theatre, music and “live art.”
When Michael Rubenfeld arrived as SummerWorks’ artistic producer in 2008, it was still popularly identified primarily as a theatre festival, but the work presented was already breaking from rigid categories.
Rubenfeld says that in an ideal world he’d like to abandon categories altogether and brand SummerWorks generically as a performance festival that reflects the amazing variety of inter- and multi-disciplinary work being made today. Until then, Rubenfeld has decided this is the right moment for SummerWorks to put a clearer focus on dance.
“Although dance has been part of SummerWorks for many years, I wanted to carve out a place for dance artists where they could self-identify. And I wanted to free them from having to fit into a festival format that had been made for theatre.”
In practical terms, it means that dance offerings can now vary signif- icantly in length and number of performances as suits the resources of participating artists. Thus, Grant was relieved of the pressure to produce something of a specified “festival length.” Her 25-minute work, made and performed in collaboration with Ellen Furey, is part of a double bill at the Theatre Centre Mainspace that includes another emerging choreographer’s work, Aria Evans’ Desiccated. Both have opted for just two performances, but could have negotiated more in return for a modest fee.
By contrast, Robert Kingsbury’s 90-minute Forgetting Remembering at Factory Theatre Studio involves a cast of nine and has four showings. Street vs. Stage, which pits street dancers against skilled professional contemporary dancers, has only one performance on Saturday night at Factory Theatre Mainspace.
Regardless, artists get to keep 70 per cent of box-office revenue while benefiting from SummerWorks’ marketing clout and visibility.
And visibility is everything for independent dance artists who struggle to afford suitable venues and rehearsal spaces.
“We’re lacking the necessary platforms for independent dance artists to be seen,” says Amelia Ehrhardt, who was asked by Rubenfeld to serve as curator of the new dance stream.
Apart from choosing from among the many applicants, a process Ehrhardt says cost her “a couple of uncomfortable days,” she’s also assumed the role of mentor and quasi-producer.
“I help them navigate the festival and, knowing how often they’re working with a limited budget, find ways to make things happen.”
For Grant, SummerWorks is a valuable chance to build audience awareness.
“Ours is a thriving art form, but not many people know that it’s happening. That’s why SummerWorks is an important opportunity for us.” SummerWorks runs until Aug. 16 at various venues. Visit summerworks.ca or call 888-328-8384 for a full schedule.